


A Day of Delusion

by gaifieri



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, i guess, if you DON'T love iruka hey what's up, if you lvoe iruka maybe don't read this, iruka-hate, uh this could be classified as...iruka hate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 17:22:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3496574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaifieri/pseuds/gaifieri
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iruka-sensei wants recognition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Day of Delusion

**Author's Note:**

> all typos kept intact at the request of my co-dad

!ruka had woken up that day. he hadn’t done much more than that, but it was a start.

he was lying in bed, minutes after he had woken up. today, he would be noticed. today, he would make himself known throughout konoha. he was the great naruto uzumaki’s mentor; he was practically a  ~~father~~  brother to the hero of the leaf (the savior of the world, more like), and that deserved some sort of recognition.

today was going to be different.

—-

he visited yamato first. he wasn’t very familiar with the woodette, but that was going to change. with his one-of-a-kind wood style jutsu (and his proximity to naruto), yamato was becoming a more and more influential citizen of konoha.

yamato was at the yamanaka’s flower shop, looking through their merchandise when !ruka found him. he walked into the store and stopped beside yamato, waiting for him to notice him and greet him. yamato glanced over his shoulder briefly, but he must not have spotted ir.uka (even though the dolphin-sensei could have  _sworn_  that yamato even made eye contact with him) because he didn’t say anything. so, iru.ka took the initiative.

"yamatooo! how are we doing this fine morning?"

yamato turned around to look at him again, this time with a somewhat confused expression on his face. the scar-nosed-sensei came to the conclusion that yamato must not be a morning person.

"hello," yamato said. he stood there for a moment, as if he was waiting for something, before moving past iru.ka and heading to another section of flowers. maybe yamato was in a hurry? that would explain why he didn’t seem to be very talkative…

as soon as irulca reached him, yamato spun around quickly, his arms crossed and looking right at iru.ka.

"is there something i can help you with? i don’t work here, you know."

!ruka frowned. uh, of course he knew that? “yes, i know yamato…i just came to say hello to you! i figure we have so much in common, it’s outrageous that we don’t spend more time together!”

"you and i…have a lot in common?"

"yes! for instance, we were both great mentors to naruto — "

"you know naruto?"

ir.uka’s frown deepend. “well, yes, i was his teacher at the academy — “

"oh, you’re master jiraiya."

…maybe yamato was just having an off day.

"um…no." irulca watched yamato for a few more awkward seconds. yamato was frowning just as deeply at him.

_maybe i will…come back to yamato another time._

"well, i should be off," !ruka said. he turned to the blondette behind the register. "it was nice to see you, ino!"

"bye, ewruka-sensei!" ino waved good-bye as he left the flower shop. yamato turned to ino after !ruka was gone.

"was that guy really your teacher?"

ino nodded, a grimace on her face. “yeah, he’s a total weirdo.”

"hmm. stay clear of him."

ino rolled her eyes. as if she needed anyone to look out for her. “here’s your receipt, yamato.”

he took the slip and tucked it inside his wallet. “thanks, ino. i’ll be back to pick my order up later.”

ino smirked up at yamato, leaning over the counter with an expression as if she was about to tell him a scret.

"i’m sure kakashi and gai will love the flowers you picked out _._ ”

yamato ran out fo the building before his face could turn any redder than it already was. ino cackled behind him.

—-

"oi, kakashi!"

iru.ka spotted the whitette strolling through town with his nose tucked into some pornographic literature, as usual.  _haha_ , i.ruka chuckled inwardly to himself,  _what a character_.

he called out the masked jounin’s name once more as he made his way towards him.

"hey." kakashi said as irulca reached him. ( **a/n** : “hey” means “oi”)

yes, this was the best place to start. of course kakashi would be able to help !ruka with his popularity rating! there wasn’t a ninja in konoha more popular, well-respected, or beautiful than kakashi formerly of the sharingan. in addition, he and irulca had such a  _deep_  history together. they had been through so much together, so many disagreements, and there was that time kakashi had saved ir.uka from one of pein’s most sinister forms…there had always been a spark between the two of them, !ruka knew, and after that day it had grown brighter and brighter. he was sure there were rumors aplenty that the two of them were dating, but neither of them had made that leap yet…but maybe it would come soon :^)

"you’re just the man i was looking for, kakashi!" !ruka beamed brightly at the silver white-haired fox. ( **a/n** : that is a figure of speech, not an indication that this is an au wherein kakashi is the nine tails jinchuuriki) “i had a problem i wanted your help with.” irulca smiled coyly at him and winked.

after the fact, he realized that kakashi’s eyes were closed in a smile, so the expression was lost on the white-haired anime man.  
  
"of course," kakashi said. he closed his book and pointed towards the northeast entrance to the village. "the check-in for shinobi visiting from other villages is right over there. you probably passed it on your way into the vilalge, but it’s easy to miss. take a left down this road and — "

"wait, what?" iru.ka interrupted him, putting his hand up to motion kakashi to stop. "why would i need to go there? i’m from konoha!"

kakashi stared and blinked. “you are?”

"of course i am!" !ruka put his hands on his hips. he was getting a little frustrated with everyone’s memory loss today. maybe their was somethign in the water causing it. "it’s me, iruk.a!"

"oh, !ruka, of course…"

kakashi still stared blankly. did he really not recognize ir.uka? maybe it was his hair…he had used a different shampoo this morning. his hair  _was_  a little more voluminous and shinier today. that was probably it.

"!ruka…and you say you’re a shinobi of the hidden leaf?"

i.ruka pointed at his foread. “can’t you tell by the symbol?”

kakashi crossed his arms and tilted his forehead in a dog-like manner. “is that what our symbol looks like? i guess i’ve never seen it from this angle…”

clearly, kakashi was not going to be the answer to his dilemma either.

just then, another jounin came flying towards them. he wore all green and spent an awful lot of time with kakashi. !ruka always thought it was odd that the two of them spent so much time together, and frankly he was a little jealous…if only he had used his regular shampoo today…

"kakashi, my eternal rival!!" the man in green spandex stopped before them, posing with his hands on his hips and smiling aggravatingly wide. "how are you this youthful afternoon?!"

"oh, gai," kakashi said, a look of relief on his face. "i’m glad you’re here."

gai took a step forward, his eyes narrowing to match the smirk growing on his face. “i am glad to see you too, my rival.”

"are you here to challenge me? maybe a long race around konoha, or a sprint to suna. anything, really, your choice."

"my, kakashi!" gai’s yes lit up. "you’ve never been so full of enthusiasm for our challenges! it’s so…so inspiring! i could…i think i might…" gai brought a hand up to cover his mouth, covering his quivering smile as his eyes glistened.

iru.ka thought it was a little over-the-top.

"unfortunately," gai continued, gaining control over his lips once again, "we have to meet yamato very soon. punctuality is just as important as any challenge!"

"perfect!" kakashi said. he turned back to !ruka. "my apologies, but i have an appointment that i’m late for. gai?" he nodded at the man in green before turning around and sprinting in the opposit direction. the other man followed after him.

iru.ka watched them disappear into the horizon.

_i guess i’ll have to move on to the next option._

—-

they were toe to toe above konoha, jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

"i hadn’t seen !ruka-sensei in a while!" gai said. "how is he fairing?"

"who?" kakashi asked. before gai could respond, a frying pan hit him in the side of the head as a chuckle came from kakashi’s direction. the silverette bounded forward, leaving gai steps behind.

"that’s cheating, kakashi! i’m telling yamato!"

—-

unsurprisingly, sai didn’t recognize him either. although he did ask him about the size of his penis, saying it was a mnemonic device to help him remember names and faces.

onto his final option.

—-

!ruka found sakura, naruto, and sasuke in the training field, lying together in the grass. when he approached them, their reaction didn’t surprise him at this point, but it still stung.

"who are you?" sasuke asked, scowling at him.

sasuke was basically an outcast anyway, his opinion wasn’t  _that_  important throughout the village.

"i don’t rememebr you either…i’m sorry," sakura said softly.

that one stung a little more.

"i can’t believe you don’t remember this guy!" naruto shouted. his voice carried so far that birds scattered from trees and the heavens opned up. finally,  _finally_ , someone remembered. and not just someone, but naruto, his most precious student, the savior of the shinobi world, the one person who mattered most, finally he was geetting some recognitiom —

"it’s ebisu-sensei! you know, that pervy guy who teaches konohamaru’s squad."

_et tu, naruto?_

!ruka didn’t bother trying to explain. it was only the early evening, but he was tired. he wanted to go home, curl back into his bed that he had only left hours ago. how disconcerting, how disappointing to be forgotten by the most influential shinobi in konoha. was this some cruel joke? was —

 _was_  this some cruel joke?

a joke…that’s it.

naruto, that trickster! he had put his whole team up to this!

!ruka laughed to himself, a new bounce to his step. he was suddenly feeling rejuvenated. that naruto…!ruka would get him back for sure! he would go home and think of a way to pay naruto back for this one, even if it took him all night. i would be the greatest prank of them all. it would catch everyone’s attention and even naruto would have to acknowldge his pranking skills!

 _tomorrow_ …tomorrow would be the day he finally got the recognition he deserved.

—-

"finally, that weirdo is gone." sakura sighed, falling back against the grass. "i never liked that guy."

"wait, so you knew who he was the whole time?" naruto said, crossing his arms. "why didn’t you say something?!"

"i didn’t want him sticking around. that guy…he just makes me uncomfortable. i mean…he looks like a dolphin…"

"what do you have against  _dolphins_?”

"nothing, actually; i  _love_  dolphins. that’s the problem.” she sat up with a huff, crossing her arms over her knees and pouting. “ever since i noticed their similarities…i can’t stop associating the two in my head. he’s ruined an entire, beautiful, intelligent species for me.”

sasuke stared thoughtfully up at the clouds for a few moments before nodding once. “hmm. i see it.”

sakura rolled her eyes and stood up. “shut up, sasuke, no one asked you.” she brushed some stray blades of gross off of her skirt before turning to leave the field. “i’m going to meet up with my girlfriends. bye losers.”

naruto watched her leave the training field, staring longingly. “man, sakura is so cool. ino and hinata are so lucky to be dating her…”

"yeah," sasuke said as he sat up, "but i’m too gay to care."

"yeah, me too, honestly. you wanna arm wrestle?"

"only if you don’t cry when i kick your ass this time."

"i could say the same to you!"

—-

and somewhere in the distance, ir.uka continued to live in denial. the end.

**Author's Note:**

> :3


End file.
